Windows 10 Creators Update officially starts rolling out on April 11, but you can download ISOs now

Game Mode, Beam streaming, support for AR/VR headsets, and more

You can already download ISO files for Windows 10 Creators Update and install it on your machine if you’re so inclined. However, if you were waiting for Microsoft to officially announce its availability, the company today revealed that the free upgrade will begin rolling out to users as soon as April 11.

The release falls on the same day as April’s Patch Tuesday release, when the company is expected to release new security patches for Windows. The Creators Update will roll out in stages, targeting newer Anniversary Update devices before being rolled out to everyone else over the course of a few weeks — users will also be able to force the update from their Windows settings.

As the name implies, the focus of the update is on “creators.” Among the highlights are a 3D version of Microsoft Paint, improved support for the upcoming range of Windows-centric mixed reality and virtual reality headsets, performance optimizations for games with Game Mode and integrated Beam streaming, improvements to Edge, a Windows e-book store, the ability to draw an annotate on everything, and more.

Microsoft has added Cortana support to the installer so parts of it can be controlled by voice and the setup experience also includes revamped privacy settings, making them much clearly on the screen rather than simply having an ‘express’ button that picks all the defaults. Users will also be happy to know that automatic updates can now be snoozed for several days, and set active hours during which it shouldn’t reboot, to stop them from shutting down your machine at inconvenient times.

On the security front there’s a new Windows Defender Security Center where you can examine a bunch of security-related system assessments and view the overall security status of your system at a glance.

Windows 10 Creators Update also introduces Dynamic Lock, which can lock your PC whenever a paired Bluetooth device is too far away, and Night Light, a feature that automatically changes the color temperature range on your PC to display warmer hue when the sun is down to keep you from staying up too late — Apple just launched the same feature on macOS two days ago, dubbed Night Shift.

Microsoft’s next major update is expected to arrive in the Fall of 2017, codenamed Redstone 3.